


The Cost of the Cure

by CatherineWinner



Category: Slayers (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 17:21:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1787020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatherineWinner/pseuds/CatherineWinner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She could cure him, but it would cost him more then he was willing to pay.</p>
<p>Zelgadis/Amelia</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cost of the Cure

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my lovely beta!
> 
> Reviews are love!

It was cold when she welcomed him into that tiny cottage. 

He barely noticed the snow that coated his clock slowly melting, his focus, his only focus were her words.

She could cure him, she stated.

He believed her like he had never believed anyone one else. There was a truth in her voice that he had never heard before.

She sat and motioned for him to do the same, he dropped tiredly to the chair.

“Why are you so confident you can cure me?”

“You don’t know much about me boy, but I have been waiting years for you.” She mindlessly strewed a boiling pot over the open flames. “All my life I’ve cured people of curses no one else ever could. But I’ve seen you, for years I’ve known you would come to me and seek a cure that would break you of this curse but curse you again.”

“What are you talking about?” He leaned forward, anxiety, and fear building in the pit of his stomach.

“If I give you want you want it will cost you-“she started

He interrupted, “I have money, whatever you want I will give it to you.”

“I do not ask for your money. You do not understand.” She turned completely to him, her eyes gentle, “I have seen your future if you remove this curse. I have seen it costing you more then you are willing to pay.”

“Tell me,” he growled, hand absently tightening around his sword handle. 

“You have someone very special to you. Dark hair and eyes but every part of her sings for justice. Her love for justice is only half as strong as her love for you.”

“What-“ He stood, drew his sword, “Are you threatening her? What do you want,   
witch?”

The older woman rolled her eyes, “Sit down and hear my words. I don’t threaten your beloved, nor do I want payment. I want to warn you, and perhaps protect you from a fate worse then the curse you bear now.” 

She turned back to her stew and continued speaking, “I have seen you cured from this curse, a normal man again. I have seen you engulfed in a happiness you have never experienced prior, for a short time. You return to your dark haired jewel in her kingdom. But when you are called to protect her, save her from dark forces, you fail. You lived your adult life stronger then the average human, you miscalculate your new strength and fail. Your failure kills your beloved.”

Zelgadis Greywards felt air suck from his chest, and for a moment, an endless   
moment, he was sure he would die. He heard faint words and brought himself back to the elderly woman. 

“You are a strong warrior, even as a human you will be powerful. But it is a much lesser power then what you’ve experienced up to this point. You will be asked to defend her home and her being but you fail. You hold her as the last bit of life leaves her.”

He slumped against the chair; unable to imagine her death, he lifted his eyes to the woman, “If I do not make the change, if I stay this way, will I save her?”

She gave him a single nod and turned away.

He heard her rustling through her kitchen equipment while his mind raced. He couldn’t risk Amelia’s life, but he had searched for so long and so hard for this cure.

“Could I not come back after the attack, could you not break the curse then?” Zel asked.

The elderly women stopped and turned, “You cannot. It is a long journey to your lady’s castle and by the time you return I will be gone.”

“Where are you going? Tell me and I will find you!” 

She shook her again, “I will be untreatable. I will have passed from this life by the time you return.”

Zel’s eyes widened but he said nothing.

“Your curse is your skin, my curse is knowing the moment of my death. I cannot change it, so I must embrace it. You must decide which you shall do.” 

He stood and went to the fire, savoring the faint heat that broke through his skin and warmed him.

He had no choice, nothing was worth the cost of Amelia’s life. 

He turned to the witch, opening his mouth to thank her for her time when she appeared in front of him. A small wrapped container and a smile on her face.

“I know, you must go. You are welcome for my time, but if you do not hurry you will miss the moment you are needed.” She handed him the container, “Days worth of food to quicken your travel. Go now, you are needed.”

Zel smiled and accepted the food, he started for the door before turning. He paused and turned back to her. “Please tell me….I have to know.”

The witch gave him a tender smile and reached out to touch his arm, stroking it in a motherly manner of love and comfort, “You already know the answer to that question, silly boy. Now go.”

_

When he arrived, he was lead to her room like the honored guest each guard knew him to be. And when he saw her, and her face blossomed into a bright smile and she dashed toward him he knew the answer to his unspoken question.

She did love him as he was...and no she would not love him more if he had human flesh.   
He embraced her then warned her, and prepared himself. Yet after, when victory was theirs and she was safe, he would face another challenge, something that had plagued him for years, but something which when won, would ensure their happiness for years. 

He would never seek a cure again, knowing that his one chance to regain human form had come and gone, but as he held his wife and her growing belly, he was thankful it had.


End file.
